Apparatus for continuously casting ingots

ABSTRACT

This disclosure relates to a continuously casting apparatus wherein many molds are arranged outside a rotating endless conveyor with their open surfaces directed inward of said conveyor and a cooling liquid tank is provided in the lower step part of said conveyor so that, after a molten metal is poured into a mold, it may be cooled and the cast body may naturally leave the mold in the upper step part of the conveyor.

United States Patent 72] Inventors Shoji Yamamoto;

Shuhei Kubota; Tsuneo Yamamoto, all of Kanbara. Kanbaracho; Masataka Miyoshi, Tokyo, Japan [21] AppLNo. 812,615 [22] Filed Apr. 2, 1969 [45] Patented June 8, 1971 [73] Assignee Nippon Light Metal Company Limited Tokyo, Japan [54] APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUSLY CASTING INGOTS 3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S. Cl 164/329 [51] Int. Cl 822d 5/04 [50] Field of Search 164/329 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,100,322 8/1963 Watanabe et al. 164/329X 689,584 12/1901 Hartman 164/329 2,389,983 11/1945 Johnson et al. 164/329 FOREIGN PATENTS 19,351 10/1900 Great Britain 164/329 2,866 2/1902 Great Britain..... 164/329 444,700 3/1936 Great Britain.. 164/329 809,948 3/1951 Germany 164/329 Primary Examiner-4. Spencer Overholser Assistant Examiner-Vemon K. Rising Attorney-William J. Daniel ABSTRACT: This disclosure relates to a continuously casting apparatus wherein many molds are arranged outside a rotating endless conveyor with their open surfaces directed inward of said conveyor and a cooling liquid tank is provided in the lower step part of said conveyor so that, after a molten metal is poured into a mold, it may be cooled and the cast body may naturally leave the mold in the upper step part of the conveyor.

APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUSLY CASTING INGOTS This invention relates to apparatus for continuously casting ingots.

There have been already made various suggestions on an apparatus for continuously casting ingots wherein an annular endless conveyor mechanism moved circulatively by driving wheels is utilized to drive molds provided as connected with it. However, in a conventional apparatus by this system, the point of pouring a molten metal into the molds is set on a moving track in the upper part of the endless conveyor and therefore the open surface of each mold is directed outward of the annular moving track of said endless conveyor. In such conventional continuously casting apparatus, as the pouring point is located in the upper step, it is not always easy to pour into the molds a molten metal led out of the bottom part of such container as usually a furnace body or a ladle. Further, it is very difficult and complicated to set a mold cooling liquid tank for quickly and sufficiently cooling the castbodies or ingots cast into the molds. More particularly, not only, as the above-mentioned cooling liquid tank is set in an interior enclosed annularly with the endless conveyor, it is restricted by said endless conveyor and it is difficult to pour water into or discharge it out of such liquid tank but also, as the molds into which ingots have been cast move and progress horizontally in turn, with an ordinary liquid storing tank, the molds can not be sufficiently dipped into the cooling liquid. In order to sufficiently dip such molds, there is required such special and complicated device as of bending downward a part of the moving track of the horizontally moving conveyor and molds so that they may be dipped into the liquid tank or of applying a special means of preventing the leakage of the cooling liquid. Therefore, the formation and operation can not help becoming considerably complicated. Further, in order to make the ingot leave the mold having the open surface directed outward as mentioned above, the moving track where the mold is directed downward, that is, in the lower step should be utilized. The height required to slide and deliver the ingot is so that it is not easy to deliver out of the apparatus the ingot having left the mold in the lower part of such casting apparatus. Further, in a conventional apparatuswherein a conveying mechanism for leading a molten metal onto the upper step of the moving track of the endless conveyor and transferring the ingots having left the molds out of the apparatus inthe lower step is provided and water is poured into or discharged out of a liquid tank provided in the moving track of the endless conveyor, considerable accessory devices should be arranged outside the annular moving track of the endless conveyor and, in order to cool the ingots to a fixed temperature, the length of the abovementioned cooling liquid tank must be fixed. Therefore, the endless conveyor mechanism containing a cooling liquid tank of such fixed length and the annular moving track itself of the molds must be also considerably long and large and the entire apparatus formation must be also large.

An object of the present invention is to provide a continu-v ously casting apparatus wherein it is easy to pourin a molten metal and the cooling mechanism is simple and can give an effective cooling effect. e

Another object of the present invention is to provide a continuously casting apparatus wherein it is easy to deliver ingots having left the molds and the formation of the entire apparatus is rather simple and small.

In the present invention, molds to be provided as connected with an endless conveyor mechanism driven annularly above and below are so arranged as to direct their open surface inward of the conveyor as contrary to a conventional type, the pouring of a molten metal into the mold is carried out in the lower horizontal part of the conveyor mechanism and a mold cooling liquid tank is set below said part. In cast the mold cooling liquid tank is thus arranged, as it is setbelow the outside of the conveyor, the liquid tank setting place will not be restricted and, as the molds are cooled over the entire range of the lower horizontal part of the conveyor, the ingot cooling effect will remarkably improve. Further, in the thus set cooling liquid tank, it is not necessary to additionally provide any special device for sealing the cooling liquid, an ordinary liquid tank will do and therefore the structure will be very simple. As the pouring of the molten metal into the molds is made in the lower moving track, it can be'easily made from such as the bottom part of a furnace body. As the ingot is separated from the mold in the upper moving track, the ingot having left the mold will have a considerableheight so as to be easily c onveyed. In working the present invention, such guiding members as coaxial guide wheels are fixed to sprocket wheels in the part of separating the above-mentioned ingots from the molds so that the ingots having separated from the molds may be prevented from dropping into the apparatus and may be positively guided to a delivering device and thereby the delivering operation may be made smoother.

In the accompanying drawings;

FIG. 1 is a partly sectioned side view of an apparatus embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view on line ll-Il in FIG. I;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view on line Ill-III in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a partly sectional side view showing adjacent parts of molds;

FIG. 5 is a magnified view of the part in the circle.

Referring to the drawings, in FIGS. 1 to 3, 1 is an endless conveyor mechanism wherein an endless chain formed of conveyor rollers 2 and conveyor links 3 flexibly jointed with them is engaged between right and left sprocket wheels 4 and 5 and is driven circulatively in the direction indicated by the arrow a in FIG. 1 by an electric-motor 8 and 6 and 7 are rotary shafts respectively for the sprocket wheels 4 and 5. 9 is a belt engaged between a driving wheel 10 and a motor shaft to transmit the rotation of the motor 8 to drive the sprocket wheel 4. 11 is a mold provided as connected on the conveyor mechanism so as to direct its open surface inward of the conveyor. Such jointing piece 12 as is shown in FIG. 2 is fitted to the end part of the mold 11 and is jointed with the shaft of the conveyor roller 2.

A tightening mechanism 13 is provided for the rotary shaft'7 for the sprocket wheels 5 on one side so that, by tightening this tightening mechanism, a proper tension may be given to the conveyor chain. 27 is a rail for receiving ingots having left the molds and running them on it. 14 is a molten metal trough for pouring a molten metal out of a melting container or a holding container into the molds. It is located near the sprockets on one side so as to. continuously pour the molten metal into the molds coming as conveyed in turn to the location of the trough. 15 is a cooling liquid tank for cooling the molds. It is provided in the entire mold moving track in the lower step as mentioned above, that is, in the entire range between the sprockets 4 and 5. Further, said cooling liquid tank 15 is provided with an inlet pipe 16 for introducing a cooling liquid. Said inlet pipe 16 is provided with a shielding plate 17 at its opening part 39 so that wave motion may be controlled from being caused in the liquid tank 15 by the jetting of the introduced cooling liquid through the opening part 39 and the cooling liquid may be prevented from splashing into the molds 11. In order that the cooling liquid in the cooling liquid tank 15 may dip the molds with a fixed level, a dam plate 18 is provided near each end of said liquid tank 15 and a discharging port 19 is provided in the bottom part of the cooling liquid tank outside said dam plate 18 so that the cooling liquid having overflowed the dam plate 18 may be discharged in each end part of the cooling liquid tank 15. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the mold 11 is fitted with waterproof sealings 29 for preventing the splashes of the cooling liquid between the adjacent molds 11 from entering the molds and overlapping pieces 30 for preventing a molten metal from entering the space between the moldswhen it is poured in so. that the entry of the cooling liquid into the mold and the leakage of the molten metal into the cooling liquid tank may be perfectly prevented. In the part of the sprocket wheels 4, in order that the cast ingots may be smoothly and positively separated from and carried out of the molds, as evident with reference also to FIG. 2, their shaft 6 is provided with guide wheels 23 which are to rotate while leaving such slight clearance as is shown as partly sectioned in FIG. 1 from the molds 11 being conveyed up to the upper step while being tumbled with the rotation of the sprocket wheels 4 and are to carry the ingots separated from the molds lll together with the molds to the delivering part while the molds 11 are being tumbled and conveyed up and to transfer the ingots to a conveyor for delivering them. Conveyor chains 40 are engaged around said delivering conveyor 20 and are fitted between driving wheels 41 which are to be driven by a belt 22 engaged between the wheel 4] and a pulley 21 fixed to the shaft 6 of the sprocket wheels 4 in the casting apparatus.

In such illustrated embodiment as is mentioned above, the guide wheels 23 and the delivering conveyor 20 are separately provided. However, when the guide wheels 23 themselves are made conveying wheels on one side of the delivering conveyor and the conveying belt is engaged directly on the guide wheels 23, the ingots can be simultaneously guided and delivered. Further, even if a series of rails corresponding to the upper half of each guide wheel 23 and the upper half of the conveyor 20 is provided instead of them, substantially the same delivering action will be able to be made.

Further, on the delivering part side of such conveyor 20 as is mentioned above, a receiving mechanism 26 and an arranging machine 27 are provided so that the ingots coming as conveyed in turn by the delivering conveyor 20 may be led by this receiving mechanism 26 into the arranging machine 27 to be arranged by a fixed number so as to be convenient to conveyor and deliver out of the casting apparatus. In the drawings, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 and 36 are structural frame members for supporting such endless conveyor mechanism 1 as is mentioned above. A strong structural frame for the conveyor mechanism is formed of them. 37 is a moving wheel for moving the casting apparatus to any proper place. Said wheels 37 are to run on rails 42 and are fixedto an axle 38. Therefore, by such moving means, for example, when one unit of the apparatus of the present invention is prepared for a group of any number of arranged furnaces, ingots will be able to be continuously cast in turn from the furnaces in which the refinement is completed. Needless to say, in case the apparatus of the present invention is to be fixed for a long period, fixing legs may be fixed in place of these wheels 37 and rails 42.

As explained above, in the apparatus of the present invention for continuously casting ingots, a molten metal pouring point is provided in the lower step, molds provided as connected on the endless conveyor mechanism are arranged with the open surfaces directed inward of the conveyor and a cooling liquid tank is arranged in the lower step part of the abovementioned endless conveyor, whereby such excellent operations and effects as are shown in the following can be developed.

Firstly, as the pouring of the molten metal into the mold is carried out in the lower horizontal part of the conveyor mechanism and the cast body cooling liquid tank should not be provided within the annular conveyor moving track as in a conventional apparatus but is arranged below the above-mentioned conveyor mechanism, it is not necessary to apply any liquid leakage preventing material to the cooling liquid tank but, by setting a conventional water tank, the molds can be well dipped, the cast bodies in them can be effectively cooled and therefore the cooling apparatus can be made very simple.

Secondly, as the cooling liquid tank is not provided within the conveyor mechanism as in the conventional apparatus but is provided below outside the mechanism, the design of the cooling water tank is not restricted, that is to say, the capacity of the water tank can be increased to be for larger than ever, further, the cooling liquid can be made to fiow in the liquid tank more freely than in overflowing through a slight clearance from a mold in the upper part of a conventional cooling liquid tank and can be made to overflow dam plates or the like in both end parts, its cooling function can be improved, further the space between the sprocket wheels in each end part can be perfectly utilized for the cooling Furpose, I can be therefore, the length of the casting apparatus rtse greatly reduced and the driving of the apparatus can be made easy.

Thirdly, as the cast cooled ingots are transferred to the upper step side of the conveyor moving track on the sprocket wheels on one side of the casting apparatus with the progress of the conveyor apparatus, that is to say, the ingots are separated after the molds turn, they leave the molds in a upper position, therefore the handling of the ingots after they leave the molds is easy and the fact that the molten metal pouring point is on the lower step side of the conveyor moving track is favorable to pour in a molten metal led out of the bottom part of a container.

Fourthly, in such apparatus of the present invention as is mentioned above, there is no structure at all for pouring a molten steel or for others in the upper part of the conveyor moving track, further the cooling liquid tank and the water pouring and discharging devices for said liquid tank can be simplified, the length of the conveyor can be reduced and therefore the entire apparatus can be made rather simple and small and easy to drive.

What we claim is:

1. An apparatus for continuously casting ingots comprising an endless conveyor supported by two spaced-apart sprocket wheels in an endless path having an upper reach and a lower reach, a plurality of open molds carried on said conveyor with their openings facing the interior of said endless path, means for filling said molds with a molten metal at a point on the lower reach of said conveyor path and a mold cooling liquid tank for cooling said molds and the cast bodies therein provided adjacent the lower reach of said conveyor path, said molds passing through said tank while moving along said lower reach.

2. An apparatus for continuously casting ingots according to claim 1 wherein a delivery conveyor is disposed beneath the upper reach of said conveyor path adjacent the bight thereof in which the molds move upwardly, said delivery conveyor receiving said ingots as they fall from said molds and delivering them away from the casting machine.

3. An apparatus for continuously casting ingots according to claim 1 wherein a flexible joint is provided between the adjacent pairs of the molds continuously arranged on the endless conveyor, said joint including overlapping portions to prevent said molten metal from flowing between the molds. 

1. An apparatus for continuously casting ingots comprising an endless conveyor supported by two spaced-apart sprocket wheels in an endless path having an upper reach and a lower reach, a plurality of open molds carried on said conveyor with their openings facing the interior of said endless path, means for filling said molds with a molten metal at a point on the lower reach of said conveyor path and a mold cooling liquid tank for cooling said molds and the cast bodies therein provided adjacent the lower reach of said conveyor path, said molds passing through said tank while moving along said lower reach.
 2. An apparatus for continuously casting ingots according to claim 1 wherein a delivery conveyor is disposed beneath the upper reach of said conveyor path adjAcent the bight thereof in which the molds move upwardly, said delivery conveyor receiving said ingots as they fall from said molds and delivering them away from the casting machine.
 3. An apparatus for continuously casting ingots according to claim 1 wherein a flexible joint is provided between the adjacent pairs of the molds continuously arranged on the endless conveyor, said joint including overlapping portions to prevent said molten metal from flowing between the molds. 